Introduction

"Religion is a
recognition of the existence of a god or gods having power over their destiny,
to whom obedience, service and honor are due; it is a feeling or expression of
human love, fear or awe of some superhuman, overruling power; a system of faith
and worship," (Webster's Online Dictionary).Religion has a strong influence on culture and
traditions.Religion has some importance
in all cultures throughout the world.Religion is constantly influencing society and geography.This sidebar is a short summary of the
three major religions of South Asia:Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.These three religions are all in the top four religions in the
world.Behind Christianity, Islam
is the second largest religion, Hinduism is the third, and Buddhism is the
fourth largest religion in the world by number of adherents.

Buddhism

Buddhism was founded by Buddha or Siddhartha Gautama in northern India. In
his late twenty's he left everything behind, including his family and set off
on a mission to seek truth. Soon after, he began practicing Brahmanism, which
is a branch off Hinduism that focuses on the caste system and the need to
materially organize society, but eventually decided that wasn’t for him either.He then decided that his new mission
would be to seek enlightenment. This quest took Siddhartha a long time to
achieve. After a long, lonely quest Siddhartha finally reach enlightenment in
535 BCE. After reaching enlightenment Siddhartha acquired the title of "Buddha"
or awakened one. Buddha’s next goal was to reach nirvana or ultimate bliss.
Over time Buddha began to gather a group of disciples who followed him to the
time of his death in 483 BCE at age 80. His large group of disciples continued
to follow him even after his death and years later formed the religion now
known as Buddhism.

Buddhism is a religion that has a number of beliefs and traditions. Unlike
Christianity and other religions, Buddhists do not believe in a god or gods.
They also do not believe in prayer, the need for eternal life or salvation.
However, they do believe in reincarnation, which is the cycle of rebirth.
Buddhists believe they go through many cycles of birth, life and death before
they reach their ultimate goal of nirvana. Buddhists believe that reincarnation
continues if they are not able to let go of attachment and desires. They will
be reborn over again and again until they are able to let go of their
attachments and desires. When they are able to succeed in letting go of
everything then they will reach nirvana. Buddhists also believe in the four
noble truths, which are: suffering is a part of life, suffering is caused be
desire and attachments, nirvana is reached when suffering has ended, and you
must follow the eight-fold-path to end all suffering. The eight-fold-path is as
follows: right understanding, right thinking, right speech, right conduct,
right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

Buddhism can be divided into three major categories: Theravada Buddhism,
Mahayana Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. All of the sects of Buddhism practice a
combination of Buddha’s teaching and their own rituals, beliefs and customs.
According to Peter A. Pardue, (1971) author of Buddhism, the three sects of
Buddhism can be divided by their location.

Theravada Buddhism is also known as southern
Buddhism because most of its followers are located in Burma, Cambodia, Laos,
Sri Lanka, Thailand and some of Vietnam. Buddhism started in many of these
countries when missionaries came over from India.

Mahayana Buddhism is also known as eastern
Buddhism and is predominantly found in China, Japan, Korea, and some of
Vietnam. Mahayana entered East Asia during the Han dynasty (206 to 220 BCE) in
China. It was first practiced by the working class and then began to spread to
the rulers of China. Missionaries traveled to surrounding countries and where
it soon became popular.

Tibetan Buddhism is also known as Northern
Buddhism and is widely popular in Tibet, Mongolia, Russia and parts of China.
Tibetan Buddhism began in Tibet around 640 CE. In the beginning, there were
many conflicts with the native Tibetan religion on Bon. After the Cultural
Revolution, Tibetan Buddhism began its revival.

Today Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world, with
approximately 360 million adherents.Approximately 6% of the world’s population is Buddhist.Kanishka’s military effort helped
Buddhism spread across India.Buddhism became increasingly more popular and it spread throughout the
Indian sub-continent over many centuries.This religion spread rapidly after Buddha’s death and became the
religion of Buddhism.Missionaries
spread Buddhism to the lands of Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and
Indonesia. Buddhism entered China during the first century A.D and became
popular in Japan soon after.Buddhism also plays an important role in Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaya,
India, and the Philippines.The
following is the ten largest Buddhist populations in the world today.The follow is a chart of the largest
Buddhist communities.

Country

Percent

Thailand

95%

Cambodia

90

Myanmar

88

Bhutan

75

Sri Lanka

70

Tibet *

65

Laos

60

Vietnam

55

Japan **

50

Macau

45

Taiwan

43

Hinduism

The foundation of Hinduism can be traced back to the Indus River Valley
around 4000 to 2200 BCE. Hinduism was influenced by many invasions over
thousands of years. Because of this vast time period, there is no exact point
in time when Hinduism began. There is no definite beginning and no human
founder. One theory of invasion, was the invasion of Northern India around 1500
BCE. This theory states that Arayn-Indo-European tribes from Russia and Central
Asia invaded Northern India. These tribes brought the religion of Vedism.
Vedism has similar beliefs to Native Indians from the Indus River Valley. Due
to the Aryan invasion of India the majority of Hinduisms inhabitants are from
India. Over time traditions, customs, and beliefs were created. All these
widely practiced traditions developed and form what is now known as Hinduism.

Some
people see Hinduism as a polytheistic religion because Hindus worship many gods
and goddess. Others feel that Hinduism is a monotheistic religion because
Hindus Believe in Brahman, which is the theory of unity and that there is only
one divine spirit and only one universe. Hindus believe that certain Gods and
Goddesses represent certain aspects of life. For example, Hindus recognize
three principle Gods: Brahma (creator of the universe), Vishnu (preserver of
the universe) and Shiva (destroyer of the universe). Salvation is achieved
through a spiritual oneness of the soul (atman) and the ultimate reality of the
universe (Brahma). To obtain this goal,
the soul must reach liberation from the cycle of rebirth. As a result, Hindus
believe in reincarnation and the caste system.

The two major sects of Hinduism are Shivaite and Vaishnavite. However there
are over 50 sub-sects of Hinduism.

Shivaism refers to Shiva as the ultimate deity. People who worship Shiva
consider him to be everything: creator, preserver, and destroyer. Overall Shiva
is known for being the destroyer, because without destruction there can be no
recreation. Shiva is the source of both good and evil who combines many
opposing elements. Shiva is also the Lord of the Dance who controls the
movement of the universe and he is associated with fertility.

Vaishnaism refers to Vishnu as the ultimate deity. Vishnu is known as the
preserver and is believed to be associated with the sun god and is considered
by worshipers to be the greatest of all the gods. Vishnu preserves and protects
the universe and save human kind from natural disasters and oppression.

Today Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world with approximately
900 million adherents.Approximately 15% of the world’s population is Hindu.Hinduism came during the ninth to
fourteenth centuries in Asia.Hindu beliefs were combined with elements of Islam and played an
important role in South Asia.Hinduism was much like the Native Indian culture and became popular in
Indian cultures such as Cambodia, Vietnam, and Burma.Missionaries spread Hinduism throughout the Asian
continent.The following is the
ten largest Hindu populations in the world today.

Country

Percent

Number

Nepal

89%

19,000,000

India

79

780,000,000

Mauritius

52

600,000

Guyana

40

300,000

Fiji

38

300,000

Suriname

30

116,000

Bhutan

25

400,000

Trinidad and Tobago

24

300,000

Sri Lanka

15

2,800,000

Bangladesh

11

12,000,000

Islam/Muslim

There are two theories about the formation of Islam. Historians claim that
the prophet Muhammad founded Islam in 622 CE. They believe that it started in
the city of Mecca, when according to Muhammad, the angel Gabriel began reading
the first revelation. The majority of the Muslims believe that Islam existed
before Muhammad was born and Muhammad was one of the last prophets. They
believe that Islam was formed closer to the creation of the world.

Islam is a monotheistic religion. They believe in one God and that he is the
creator. Muslims also pay their respects to many prophets and their
teachings.They believe that
Muhammad is the last of the prophets. Muslims believe that Satan exists and
drives people towards sin. Muslims must offer themselves to God completely free
of sin. They believe that hell exists only for the sinners and unbelievers, as
well as paradise that exists for the people free of sin. Muslims' believe they
must pray five times a day. Muslims must also fast during the month of
"Ramadan".At least once
in a Muslims' life, they must recite a creed called the "shahadah"
and they must make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca if they are physically and
economically able to.

In Islam there are three major divisions of schools, which are:

1.Sunni:Sunni Muslims are followers of the Hanifa, Shafi, Hanibal and Malik
schools.They make up about 90% of
Muslims. They are considered to be more reserved and traditional.

2.Shi’ite:Shi’ite Muslims are followers of the Jafri school.They make up a small percentage of the
total Muslim population.The
Qur’an and its teachings are very important.They also believe in the 12 heavenly Imams (perfect
teachers).

3.Sufism:These followers seek inner knowledge from God.They strongly emphasize the importance of meditation,
rituals and dances. They are combine teachings of Neoplatonism, Buddhism, and
Christianity. They also emphasize union with God.

Today Islam is the second largest religion in the world after
Christianity, with approximately 1.3 billion adherents.Approximately 22% of the world’s
population is Muslim.From the
cities of Makkah and Madinah, in the Arabian dessert, the message of Islam
spread rapidly.Islam spread to
Arabia and during later centuries spread throughout the Indian sub-continent.Today Islam continues to spread
throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.The following is the 10 largest Muslim populations in the
world today.